


River Flows In You

by narcissus



Category: Captain America (2011), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel, Marvel (Movies), The Avengers - All Fandoms
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Musical Instruments
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-01-28
Updated: 2012-01-28
Packaged: 2017-10-30 06:06:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,507
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/328592
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/narcissus/pseuds/narcissus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve teaches Tony to play the piano.</p>
            </blockquote>





	River Flows In You

Tony loosened his tie, sighing in relief as he padded across the carpeted floor to the shining bar that stood in his lounge. He took out a bottle of his favourite scotch, starting to pour when he decided he _really_ needed a double measure after the day he’d had. Pepper had been nagging him for weeks that he spent too much time “playing the superhero” and not enough time in the office. Too right, Tony snorted with the thought. Who  _wouldn’t_  choose being the superhero in that deal?

 

Tony finished the glass in an alarming time, setting the glass down and running a hand over his face. He really hated this side of things; he considered himself an inventor, not a business man. If he had to listen to another asshole drone on at board meeting anytime soon he’d probably rip out his arc reactor and let himself die a slow painful death. Tony hated the business side of his company _that_  much.

 

He sighed, reaching for the bottle and pouring himself another drink - before he caught the sounds of a piano playing. Tony paused. “Jarvis, I appreciate the classy atmosphere you’re trying to create, but honestly it’s not gonna work-”

“Mr Stark, Mr Rogers is here to see you.”

Tony raised an eyebrow. “Steve? Thanks for telling me when I got in, Jarvis…” he grumbled, snatching his drink and heading towards where he kept his piano, tossing his jacket on a nearby chair as he went.

 

Steve was hunched over the piano, a soft melody drifting out and echoing across the expanse of the room. Tony sauntered over quietly; Steve hadn’t noticed that Tony had come in. Tony smiled to himself - Pepper had purchased the piano on a decorating whim, and now it was finally being used. Tony listened in silence, leaning against the wall, sipping his drink, and enjoying the way Steve’s back seemed to flex along with the melody. The song seemed to last for an age; each note hanging in the air while the new ones swirled around it, and Tony had never heard anything so beautiful, and he hated to hear it end.

 

“I didn’t know you could play piano.” Steve jumped, hitting the keys clumsily with fright.

“Christ Tony.” Steve cursed softly, turning around on the stool to face him. “Warn a guy next time.”

Tony pushed himself off the wall and crossed over to where Steve was sitting. “Hey, it’s my house. And that is  _my_  piano. I have a right to hear it being played.”  

Steve blinked up at him through blonde eyelashes, a pink blush spreading across his cheeks at being caught performing.  _Typical_ , Tony thought,  _the man has a talent and he’s embarrassed that I know about it_. “Sorry Tony, I was just here to tell you that Fury uh – but you uh, weren’t here so I – I mean I hope you don’t mind, but I just sort of, um, started to play while I waited.” The blush had started to darken as he babbled, and Tony couldn’t help but let out a little laugh.

“Hey, it’s no problem, big guy. Don’t beat yourself up about it. You should play more often, you’re really good. I’m jealous.” He added cheekily, giving Steve a wink. Before Steve could reply, Tony set his glass down and he nudged Steve’s shoulder. “Here, scoot down. Show me how to play something.”

 

Steve obliged, shifting across the piano stool so Tony could sit down beside him. Tony let his thigh rest right up alongside Steve’s, and he thought he saw the blush darken ever so slightly. Steve cleared his throat. “Um, this should be easy enough, this was the first thing I learned…” He played a sequence of notes, slowly and repeatedly, letting Tony memorise his movements. “Now you try.” Tony tried, and failed, drawing a small laugh out of Steve. “No, no… more like this.”

 

This went on for the best part of 10 minutes; and by the end Tony could play a song intended for a child _all by himself_. He was pretty proud of that fact. Tony was never the type of person to persevere at “useless” pastimes - or at least that’s how his father wanted him to feel. Steve was a good teacher, patient -  sometimes fitting his larger hand over Tony’s to guide him. Tony liked this; he rarely got to spend time with Steve with the sheer workload he was facing recently. And Tony really, really liked Steve. A bit more than was _probably_ deemed acceptable on a guy who was alive during the war. Pepper had even called him “morally reprehensible” for his so-called crush on the chivalrous Captain America. Tony didn’t care; it wasn’t like he could  _help_  it. It seemed impossible not to be attracted to the man, and his personality certainly didn’t help things. Tony was in trouble, he knew – he wasn’t  _trying_  to break up the team, but some things have a mind of their own.

 

Lost in thought, Steve began to play on his own, a far more complicated piece which just left Tony to study him. His lower lip was caught between his lips in concentration, his eyes fluttering closed every so often, his long fingers moving in a rippling movement that entranced Tony. God, Steve was  _beautiful._  Tony could sit here forever just listening and watching, perfectly content.

 

“You’re too quiet Tony.” Steve smiled at him.

“And what’s wrong with that? Would it shock the world if I just listened for once?” Tony smiled back.

Steve shrugged, slowly trailing out of the song. “I don’t know. It seems odd without you talking.”

“But talking during a piano recital is rude, or so I've heard.” Steve gave him a pointed look. “Tony, you’re  _always_  rude.” There was a small silence before they both burst out laughing. “That’s true, I’ll give you that. But seriously, why didn’t I know you could play piano like that already?”

 

Steve ran a hand through his hair. “I don’t know. I guess… I’m just not like you when it comes to bragging about my talents. Not that that’s a bad thing.” He added quickly, before continuing. “My life was pretty different before the serum. I played piano, I read books, I drew… I even went to musicals” He shook his head, laughing slightly. “But now everything’s different. I’m Captain America, I save the world, I have to be  _manly_  and  _strong_ ….” Steve trailed off, and Tony couldn’t help but reach out and place a hand on his shoulder at the sound of bitterness in Steve’s voice.

“Hey… I’m a superhero too, and if I had talents like yours I’d use them all the time. Me? Well, I have different talents. And look where they got me - now I'm Iron Man!” Steve smiled at this, rolling his eyes a little.

“Tonyyy…” He began, before Tony cut him off. “Plus, if anybody calls you gay, you can totally just beat them up.”

 

The smile on Steve’s face faded as he swallowed thickly. He mumbled something, and Tony had to ask him to repeat it twice before he finally caught it. “And what if I am?”

Tony took a minute to process what he just said. His mind suddenly clicked into a chorus of  _ohmygodohmygodholyshithe’sgayhe’sactuallygayyoutotallyhaveachanccenow._  He'd assumed that Steve was straight - he'd heard Steve talk about a girl called Peggy before, after all…

 

Tony realised he wasn’t replying, and he could tell that Steve was going to start to get worried that he was a homophobe if he didn't say something soon. Tony frantically searched his brain for a reply, something,  _anything_  that he could say, but his brain was still dancing around, and he cursed himself for not being able to remember how to string two words together. So he did the next coherent thing he could think of.

 

He reached forward and took the side of Steve’s jaw into one hand, and slowly slid the other hand over Steve’s bicep. Tony locked eyes with Steve, seeing confusion slowly turn to realisation in his beautiful eyes. Tony ran a thumb over Steve’s bottom lip, causing his eyelids to flutter closed and his mouth to open slightly, hot breath skating over Tony’s thumb. Tony leaned in slowly, finally pressing his mouth softly to Steve’s. It was better than he had ever imagined, and although Tony would never,  _ever_  admit it out loud, he could now understand where the whole “fireworks” thing came from. The kiss became more intense, Steve reaching to grab Tony’s hair and the small of his back. He let out a small gasp as Tony moved to straddle him, kicking the piano keys in the process, and started to invade his open mouth with his tongue. “Mmph, Tony..”

 

They pulled apart, breathless, neither one aware of whether the kiss lasted seconds or hours. Tony rested his forehead against Steve’s, hands clenched in Steve’s shirt. Only then did his brain finally create the words he had wanted to say.

“Then I’ll beat them up for you.”


End file.
